MAIL BAG LETTERS FROM READERS

I have been watching with great interest as Nancy Pelosi, Dick Cheney and others try to skewer each other over the use of waterboarding. According to the CIA, waterboarding has been used very successfully to extract information that was used to thwart terrorist attacks.

In 2002, Pelosi was the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee; she is now speaker of the House, which places her next to the vice president in case something should happen to our country’s leadership. Pelosi was very much in favor of prosecuting former President Bush and members of his administration for using waterboarding. She has claimed that the CIA told her committee that it would not use waterboarding.

Congressional records and others who attended the committee meeting show that waterboarding was going to be used and Pelosi and others on the committee asked if this was harsh enough treatment of the suspected terrorists. This put our speaker in the position of being guilty of torture or lying, or both.

Both Tom Foley and Newt Gingrich were removed as House speakers for lesser offenses. She also should be removed as speaker and from the U.S. House of Representatives.

PUC claimed to favor utilities over consumers

I don’t believe I can be the only person very distressed about the price for the “cheap and plentiful” natural gas to heat my house. I can pay my mortgage and other expenses, but the price for heat is going to put me under.

In January the cost was $378. In February it was $400, March it was $295 and April it was $198.

I’m sure the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) will grant that raise and have its hands out for checks from UGI. The commission is less for the public and much more for the utilities.

Diocese spokesman said to have facts wrong

In the May 15 letters to the editor section, Diocese of Scranton spokesman Bill Genello asks why the newspaper gives Michael Milz, the president of the Catholic teachers’ union, so much press since he hasn’t been employed by the diocese for two years.

Milz was, in fact, a teacher at Holy Redeemer High School until last June – less than one year ago. Milz is still the president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, which Bishop Joseph Martino is unsuccessfully trying to crush. As such Milz is an important voice to be heard when discussing the problems of Catholic schools in the diocese.

The statement about Milz’s employment shows either Mr. Genello is poorly informed about what is happening in the Catholic school system or he is a prevaricator.

The Scranton Diocese apparently had been telling the teachers that the diocese had no problem with the teachers union – seemingly right up to the day the diocese announced it would never recognize the union. Teachers were told, in case of layoffs, they were able to “bump” in order of seniority – right up to the day the diocese decided to get rid of Milz.

Teachers with more than 30 years experience can simply be told to pack their things and get out; teachers with only a few years experience will be kept. It would seem that no reason, nor consideration of the years serving the church, need be given.

Does anyone besides Bishop Martino think this is what teachers want, or what they deserve?

Writer urges opposition to oil drilling in Arctic

The polar bear has been sending us a desperate SOS. As it suffers the terrible impacts of global warming, the bear’s future is literally melting away along with the Arctic Sea ice.

If Gov. Sarah Palin and the oil giants have their way, Alaska’s polar bears could die off by 2050.

The oil and mining giants want nothing less than a free pass to exploit and destroy the polar bears’ habitat and Gov. Palin wants to help them get it. The Obama administration will be under enormous pressure from the oil lobby to ignore the polar bears’ plight and let massive oil drilling proceed in fragile Arctic ecosystems.

U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar needs to hear from concerned citizens immediately.

Human service workers should hold licenses

When I get my hair cut, it’s done by a licensed cosmetologist. If I were to purchase a car, I would buy one from a licensed vehicle salesperson employed at a licensed dealership. I can even take this a step further and boldly say that when I die, a licensed funeral director will care for my body.

These types of licenses are required under Pennsylvania state law. Why? Licensure ensures professional practice and consumer protection.

But, what if someone was investigating me to determine if I were an unfit mother? Or, what if someone were investigating the care of my grandmother? Would they be licensed? In Pennsylvania, probably not.

In fact, most front-line human service workers are not licensed. There are damaging consequences to at-risk individuals when human service professionals fail to do their jobs effectively. The evidence of these failures often reaches the front page of this newspaper, striking up emotionally charged conversations throughout the area.

For that very reason, we must establish a bachelor’s level human service license. This type of license would professionalize direct functions such as investigating child and elder abuse, care and custody of dependent children and the implementation of behavioral treatment plans.

This type of licensure is being called for in House Bill 353, which recently has been introduced. To be qualified for the proposed bachelor’s level license, one must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited school of social work or a degree in a related field such as psychology or sociology. The applicant also must complete 450 or 2,000 supervised hours under a licensed professional, depending on education. The applicant would have to pass a nationally administered test and adhere to the National Association of Social Workers Professional Code of Ethics.

Until its passage, we will continue to hear sensationalized stories of social services gone wrong.

Thirty-four states offer a bachelor’s level license. It’s time for us to become number 35.

Send us your opinion

Letters to the editor must include the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number for verification. Letters should be no more than 250 words. We reserve the right to edit and limit writers to one published letter every 30 days.

Stephen Garnecki Tunkhannock A. Royer Wilkes-Barre Eugene Gowisnok Swoyersville Patricia Marks Wilkes-Barre Christina Mortensen Director of research and communications National Association of Social Workers Pennsylvania chapter Camp Hill